ANTH8

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School

Carleton University

Department

Anthropology

Course

ANTH 1001

Professor

Marie- Eve Carrier- Moisan

Semester

Fall

Description

ANTH 1001 A Dec 3 2013
Anthropology and the Virtual
­Key questions for anthropologists
­To which extent do internet­based technologies cultivate new modes of
communication and sociality, and a new sense of community and identity?
­What are the continuities and discontinuities between the physical and virtual
worlds?
­Two positions
­New internet­based technologies transform human relationships in fundamental
ways
­Positive view: new internet­based technologies = emancipatory and
promote social connectivity
­Allows for more interactivity, flexibility, and creativity (with user­
generated content)
­Facilitate new collectivities, virtual communities,
interconnectedness, and collaboration across the globe
­Provide more democratic participation and make new forms of
activism possible
­Negative view: new internet­based technologies = individualization
­Result in further isolation and individualization
­Participants in virtual worlds tend to be isolated and have
difficulty making connections in the real world
­This can lead to “slacktivism” (i.e. signing an online petition)
­New internet­based technologies, while transforming human relationships in
some ways, do not radically depart from the physical world, but instead reproduce
some of its features
­Boellstroff